Footloose

I'll admit I'd never been to Stevenage (other than on the train on my way to London), much less the theatre, before so when I was invited to go and see their in house production of Footloose, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

I was blown away by the scale of the production. Given that it was only on for a week, there didn't appear to have been any cut corners. Most importantly, the calibre of the cast was high.

I'd never, believe it or not, seen Footloose on stage before. Seen the film a million times and know the music but wasn't prepared for quite how much I'd enjoy it on stage. The cast were (almost) universally very strong. I thought the dancing could have been tighter in certain parts (especially the boys) but the singing was fantastic throughout.

A really good, solid, fun production and certainly one that would encourage me to return for their next show.

Blood Brothers

I've made more visits to Blood Brothers in the West End than I'd care to admit over the past year or so, so it was with an element of dread that I headed across to Leeds to see the touring production.

I find myself slightly numbed to its emotional impact now. I sat in a relatively empty matinee audience of pensioners who were sniffing into their Fisherman's Friends and didn't shed a tear. I don't even jump at the gun shots anymore.

I also think I've been spoilt in hearing Niki's vocals as Mrs J because Maureen Nolan just wasn't even close to having the same strength in her voice. It's a shame, because it's a role that has so much more impact with a strong vocalist but she just wasn't that.

I think it's pretty safe to say that I am well and truly Blood Brothers-ed out now.

Ladies Day

Through the torrential rain, I drove across to Lichfield on Friday night to see Ladies' Day, by Amanda Whittington.

Despite the miserable trip there, the play managed to lift the spirits of the rather bedraggled audience. Its distinctly northern humour hit the mark with the primarily middle aged audience. Some of the scene changes were clunky, to say the least - always the issue in studio spaces where there isn't the capacity for a curtain or any kind of meaningful blackout.

It struck me as being somewhat predictable in terms of structure... for the most part the first act stumbled along and then most of the second act was raced through as each character revealed their 'big secret' one after another. Amongst it there were certainly a couple of cringeworthy moments (I could have done without the ghostly apparition for one) and its setting is so intrinsically provincial that I can't imagine they could even dream of taking it to London but it was an enjoyable enough 2 hours with some very strong performances.

Light In The Piazza

On Monday night, I tootled my way through to Leicester for the final preview of Light In The Piazza at the (relatively) newly opened Curve.

The theatre itself is lovely. Spacious, comfortable and lots of legroom (double brownie points from me). If only I had so many positive things to write about the show.

Ultimately, I was bored. Very bored. I don't dispute that the orchestrations are very pretty, and they have some lovely singers but the show itself left me thoroughly cold. There is no book. At no point in the whole show did I engage with any of the characters... and that certainly wasn't the fault of the actors. Equally, I am someone who likes to be able to walk away from a show with a melody in my head and it failed utterly in that respect too. The songs had that Sondheimesque clunkiness that jars on me.

The set was bloody ugly too. Giant, moving MDF boxes shifting around the stage. Impressive in terms of scale but totally out of character for the show.

I know the plans were for a West End transfer of this. I can't see it happening and I bloody hope it doesn't - the thought of a show as dull as this clogging up a London theatre depresses me no end.

West Side Story

West Side Story is my Mum's favourite show so not having been able to make it to the Sadler's Wells production last summer, I booked tickets for us for the tour for her birthday, several months ago now.

It's a show I've known since I was tiny but never really appreciated until recently, and I'd never seen a professional production before.

I felt almost completely let down. There was huge potential to maximise the impact of the incredible original choreography but the dancing was actually far from tight (the men especially) and really let it down. I didn't really warm to either Maria or (especially) Tony and they seemed thoroughly mismatched, both in appearance and vocally.

All that said, there were exceptions that made it worthwhile... the dream sequence was beautiful and the dancing during that was (excuse the pun) leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. Bernardo and Anita were fabulous. Jayde Westaby was just incredible and utterly outshone everyone else on that stage - America was another of the dance numbers that actually came together really well.

Maybe it was just that they're nearing the end of the tour and the complacency has set in. Maybe it was just never that strong to start with. But the show just struck me as a wasted opportunity.

Kindertransport

After a horrific drive across the Pennines to Mold, I wasn't really in the best frame of mind for Aberystwyth Arts Centre's 'Kindertransport'. I knew a little of the subject (it would be pretty much impossible to get through studying history to degree level without knowing rather a lot about most aspects of WWII) but had never seen it on stage.

What struck me was the complexity of the various mother/daughter relationships throughout. Each of them could have afforded a whole play about them individually so having so many in one play barely scratched the surface of each.

I found myself being really quite drawn in, by the lovely staging and the almost universally strong performances. The second act especially captivated and I was really quite moved as the whole story began to unravel.